You Say You Think We Are the Best Thing
by cjhar
Summary: Post: Charge of this Post.A series of events exploring Lindsay and Flack's transition from co-workers to friends to more. Very mild season 2/3 spoilers. Sorry my summaries are never very good. FM Radio
1. Won't You Come Back Home

My first CSI:NY story. Hope everyone enjoys this.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of this.

1/12?

* * *

Don had struggled all day through the PT, the check out, the flight of stairs to his apartment. At this point, the only thing he wanted to do was to pass out in his bed, maybe order a pizza and relax in his own bed. Leaning his weight against the door, he was surprised that it slowly swung open. He cautiously entered the apartment, surprised to hear a soft Snow Patrol song playing in the background and Lindsay's voice singing along with great enthusiasm. He grinned to himself at the image of someone in his apartment to welcome him home.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He raised his voice to be heard over the music as he came through the hallway.

"Jesus." She spun suddenly while her hand clutched at her chest. But once the panic registered then passed, she beamed brilliantly at him. "Welcome home!" He collapsed into the armchair in his living room with an exhausted expression on his face. "Want some dinner? I cooked some lasagna."

Although still a little confused as to why she was here, he was not going to turn down company and free food. "Sounds good." He surveyed the room carefully. "Did you clean my apartment?" He ran a finger across his coffee table. "You _dusted_ my apartment?" He asked, shock evident in his voice.

She laughed nervously as she walked into the living room and handed him a plate of lasagna with a side of garlic bread. She bit down on her lip briefly. "I clean and cook when I get worried." He paused for a moment, staring at her but she had continued before he could reply. "Also I figured that you would rather come home to a clean, well-stocked home than a dirty empty fridge."

"Well, thanks." He took a bite and swallowed as she went back into the kitchen. He still couldn't figure out what to say to Lindsay's comment. They had never really been friends or even talked a lot before he got injured. "This is amazing, Lindsay." She grinned proudly as he took another bite with great satisfaction.

"That would be more compelling if you hadn't been living off of hospital food and the occasional pizza slice from Danny." She teased as she put up the lasagna in the freezer. She explained. "I have put the rest of the lasagna in the freezer along with a chili and a collection of frozen foods. There are fresh fruits and vegetables in the fridge. You can now eat well without leaving your apartment for awhile now." She placed the key on his counter. "I stole this from your keychain when you were napping." She picked up her purse and headed to the door.

"Wait!" He leaned forward to her, almost desperately. He didn't want to be alone right now. Away from the constant activity of the hospital, he worried about the nightmares. "Why don't you stay and eat some of your lasagna?" She smiled so he pressed his advantage. "We can watch a crappy sci-fi movie. I know how much you love those."

Surprise flooded her face. She widened her eyes and froze. "You weren't supposed to know that. I thought I hid that from you."

He laughed at her surprise. "I'm a detective. Your cover-up skills are extremely poor. Plus I recognized the SyFy channel commercial music. " He raised his eyebrows at her and gestured to the couch. "So are you staying?" He asked with a hint of desperation again.

"Yea, I mean, I did work really hard to cook that lasagna. Might as well take advantage." She plopped down on the couch, stretching out. "What kind of movie do you want to watch?"

The next morning, she knocked on his door again holding a cup of coffee. The grogginess was still apparent in his face but he did seem pretty happy to see her. She enjoyed getting to know him outside of the office. Outside of the hospital he was much more relaxed.

She explained with a grin. "I realized this morning that I forgot about buying you coffee. And then I thought about the crap that hospitals call coffee and decided that you needed a fresh cup of coffee to welcome you home. Also, I think you need a plant in your apartment." She was almost bubbling.

He put his hand over her mouth. "Wow, take a breath. I cannot handle this much sparkle in the morning." He could feel her grin under his hand and knew he was probably grinning like an idiot as well. "This time take it a little slower please."

Laughing, she picked up a bag from the ground that he hadn't noticed before. "I brought you a bag of coffee and a plant for your apartment. Then, I can help you change your bandage." She offered as she pushed the bag into his arms. "And I can make you my fabulous pancakes."

Following her into the apartment, he put the bag down on the counter and rested his elbows on it watching her place the plant on the windowsill. "If you continue to feed me Lindsay, I will gain like 15 pounds." He teased. "It's going to be a lot harder to run those suspects down."

She huffed in mock exasperation. "You need to gain some weight and nutrition after that hospital stay." She waved him over to the side table that he saw all the medical supplies laid out upon. "Sit down, we've got to get the bandage changed." She raised an eyebrow at him. "We need you back on the force ASAP."

He pulled off his shirt and sat where she pushed him down. The sight startled her, she wasn't used to seeing him without a suit on. Despite the large bandage, he looked pretty good. She couldn't help but wonder what this would be like under different circumstances. Almost blushing, she pulled off the bandage. The wound seemed to be healing pretty well despite its appearance. Quickly she managed to clean it and bandage it again without embarrassing herself.

"Pancake time?" He asked as he pulled back on his shirt. She chuckled, walking toward the kitchen. He sat on the barstool watching her put the ingredients together.

"Ya know, I never thanked you but I just want you to know that I really appreciate you keeping me company in the hospital. I probably would have gone insane without you there almost every day." He joked to relieve some of the tension; he wasn't one for emotional conversations. "And the food you made is pretty awesome too. I think I owe you lunch for like a year."

"Well, I have a list of recipes to try out. So now that you are weak and I can overpower you, prepare to eat." She laughed along with him.

"Oh no, there is no way that you can overpower me. You are like 5 feet tall. " He put on a fake arrogant tone. "I am a hardened New York detective with years of chasing down criminals under my belt. What do you have?"

"I have years of farm work and rodeo under _my_ belt." She poked his side lightly over the counter and smirked as he flinched. "Pretty sure I can defeat you with just my fingers. Now," She pointed her finger at him. "make yourself useful and cook the bacon."

It became a tradition for Lindsay to come over either in the morning or at night depending on when her shift ended and cooking breakfast or dinner for him. Despite his protests that he could feed himself, she kept baking for him. It became a daily occurrence that she would show up at his apartment with cooking supplies in her arms. As his wound healed, he started walking over to her apartment bringing her breakfast or dinner after a particularly brutal shift. Neither one made a big deal about it when slowly they noticed that somehow they had ended up spending at least one meal every day together.

TBC

as always, reviews and criticism are appreciated


	2. Apologies on Your Fingertips

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

2/12?

* * *

She put her phone down slowly, confused and frustrated with Danny. A computer beep drew her attention away from personal problems and back to the case. After all, her work was important for this city. With that attitude, she threw herself into processing the clothes for hours. She did manage to find thing that broke the case in the end. She might have been less than her happy and joking self with Adam but she hadn't been mean or anything resembling that.

"Hey." Flack drew her attention to himself as he leaned against the door to her lab while she put away some evidence and cleaned the lab.

"Hey." She nodded at him and slowly straightened up.

"You okay? Usually your Montana reflexes don't let me even startle you much less stare at you for 5 minutes without you noticing." He sounded concerned despite the joking words as he came further into the lab area.

"Yea, I was just thinking about this case." She handed him some folders, explained her findings quickly for him to put in his file and went back to her cleaning. He stood for a moment longer surveying her and debating how hard to push her. In the end, he decided to just let her push him away for a little longer. After his surgery and subsequent recovery, she had been amazing at staying patient with him even on his worst days. Another day went by and then another, but her obvious distraction and the lack of her bubbly personality remained. When she didn't even smile at his surprise gift of her favorite expensive coffee, he resolved to do something about this bad mood of hers. Despite that her bad mood was a fraction of what his is, her mood affected the whole crime lab.

"Come on, Linds, out with it." He demanded of her. His tone was a combination of worry and irritation "You have been moody and grumpy for days."

"So I've been you?" She retorted.

"Oh, very funny." He pulled the evidence bag away from her. "Tell me."

She groaned as she stretched backward, noticing just how much her back ached. She debated what to say for a minute before asking. "You want dinner? I haven't eaten since breakfast and my shift just ended."

"Yeah, actually that's why I came here in the first place." He laughed. "I was hoping that you would be as swamped as I have been." He grabbed her coat from the desk and handed it to her as she put some stuff up. "What do you want? Sandwiches? Pizza? Thai?" He asked as they walked toward the elevators.

"Pizza, gooey, hot and a lot of it. Please." She closed her eyes and sighed happily at the thought of it. He grinned at her and led the way out of the building.

He waited until they were sitting at a pizzeria down the street before questioning her. "So are you gonna tell me what's bothering you?" She took a sip of her drink. "Or am I going to have to impress you with my interrogation techniques?" He took a bite of his pizza.

She sighed and started talking. "It's just Danny." She picked at the straw wrapper. "I understand the need to grieve, don't get me wrong, I understand the need to grieve." She sounded upset though more sad than mad. "But does he need to sleep with someone else and then lie to me about it?" Flack choked on his pizza as anger flooded into his face. She laughed bitterly at his reaction. "Yeah, I know. That was my reaction too. But seriously, I'm a CSI. It's my job to be observant and he's not an especially good liar." She stared at him with wide angry eyes that didn't hide the remnants of hurt. "And now he has the nerve to just act like nothing is wrong?" She flattened her hand out on the table trying to push her emotions back under.

He hesitated, unsure as what the situation warranted. All he knew was that he wanted to punch Danny for hurting Lindsay. "Can I do anything?" He asked as he placed his hand on top of hers.

She smiled sweetly at him and used her other hand to push the hair out of her face. "No, thanks for asking but, I can handle this on my own. He's your friend and he's a good friend. He's just not a good boyfriend." She sighed in relief at finally telling someone. "This is not your problem: I just really needed to talk to someone about this."

"Are you sure that's all I can do? I can punch him in the face if it would make you feel better." He teased but the words were completely serious.

"All I need you to do right now is quit questioning me so I can eat my delicious pizza in peace." She raised her eyebrows and stared him down.

He laughed at her challenging look. "I surrender." He gestured at her pizza. "You can eat your pizza now." They ate the rest of the pizza in comfortable silence. When the check arrived, Flack grabbed it immediately.

Lindsay asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows. "You are still paying?"

"Yea, I still owe you for your help after the explosion." He replied as he placed a twenty on the table.

She shook her head at him. She placed one hand on the table and balanced her chin in the other hand. "You do not owe me anything. I mean I love a free lunch as much as anyone who makes a government salary does. Just know that you really don't owe me anything."

He answered completely seriously, placing his hands over hers on the table. "I do though. I don't know what I would have done without you. I would probably have gone insane without you always being there to chat or helping me clean or pushing me to try harder in therapy." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her.

"Also, you would probably be like thirty pounds heavier from all the delivery food you would have eaten." She teased to lessen the nervousness he was feeling. He laughed in agreement.

"Come on, we should probably get back to work now." He stood and helped her into her coat. She linked her elbow through his arm as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Fall is such a pretty season." Lindsay observed as they slowly meandered back. "It's not too hot but, not too cold. The gross slush hasn't taken over everything but the heat hasn't made the entire city smell worse."

He turned his head to look at her. For the first time, he was struck by how gorgeous she was. Not in the New York supermodel way but in an attractive, intelligent down to earth way. With a smile sparkling on her face, she could rival any woman. He mentally snorted at Danny's stupidity for losing a girl like her. "Did you like the fall best in Montana as well?"

"Nah, the beginning of winter was amazing." She smiled in remembrance. "Everything is white and clean. Even things that normally would be ugly look amazing in the snow." She put a hint of fake derision in her voice. "And unlike in New York, we don't get the nasty grayish slush sitting on the road for days. Most of the time, it's pretty clean."

"Have you ever been outside on the first snowfall of the year in New York though?" He asked as they entered the building.

"No. Why does that change something?"

"It changes everything." He paused outside the elevator. "This winter, I will show you. Believe me, it's amazing."

"If you say so." The elevator doors opened. She stepped in before asking. "See you later for Doctor Who?" They discovered their mutual love of the SciFi (they refused to use the new spelling) channel after he woke up with her watching the channel in the hospital. They had a tradition of watching the awesomely ridiculous original movies or having a Doctor Who marathon on free nights. She usually cooked for them too. All in all, it was one of his favorite traditions.

"Yea, unless something goes wrong with this case. I'll call you." She waved bye as the doors closed.

After Lindsay refused to get him involved, he took her advice and stepped back, not asking any more questions about the state of their relationship. However two days after Lindsay and Don's lunch, Danny decided to get entirely hammered then call Don at 3 am.

"Ya know- I know I messed up." Danny slurred at him, his New York accent coming out stronger due to the alcohol. "But I didn't think she would actually break up with me."

Despite Lindsay's desire for him to stay apart from this, he can't exactly contain his angry towards for Danny. "For cheating? Or lying to her about it?" He asked incredulously.

The quiet fury in his voice surprised Danny. "It didn't mean anything. I was upset, she was upset. It just happened." Danny tried to justify his behavior but, Flack won't take it.

"And Lindsay? What? Was she supposed to accept it? You're a guy? It was hard? Cause those excuses suck." The words flowed out faster than he can stop them. The anger surprised him at first. But Lindsay did stay at the hospital for days with him, she cleaned his apartment out, she baked for him and kept him from slowly losing his mind on leave and then later on desk duty. She is an amazing person and if Danny can't figure that out, he doesn't deserve her at all. "Sorry but I can't listen to this." He shut his phone with more force than is necessary than shook his head at Danny's ridiculousness.

The next day, he strode down the hall to the elevators after finishing up some paperwork for Mac, looking forward to a cheeseburger and a movie after such a tedious day. He wasn't expecting to be tugged down a hallway. Lindsay's eyes were raised and her face was set in angry lines. If it hadn't been so terrifying, it would have been adorable.

Immediately, he knew exactly what happened to make her so mad. "Did Danny talk to you?" He leaned against the wall and crossed his hands.

"Yeah." She waved it off. "He'll realize what an ass he's being after this whole thing blows over."

"Wait-" He held up his hands and straightened up. "You're mad at _me_. What have I done?" He sounded offended and in complete disbelief.

Lindsay stared at him before blinking slowly. "You weren't supposed to get involved. I don't want to destroy your friendship for something that's between Danny and I." She seemed angrier at herself now. "I shouldn't have told you about it."

He grasped her shoulder firmly. "Yes, you should have. Look," He rubbed his neck. "this isn't about you, this is more about Danny being a total ass." She looked ready to interrupt, but he added on justifying his actions. "Also, I wouldn't have said anything but he called me last name really really drunk. I couldn't help myself." She looked slightly mollified at his explanation. He was quite relieved because an angry Lindsay meant trouble for everyone. "So we good?" She nodded and turned to go back to the lab but his hand kept her in place. "I just want you to know that you can always talk to me Lindsay. I would have hoped that after the past year we have had, you knew that."

She tried to explain. "I do." She began slowly and then words just spilled out faster and jumbled up from her desire to get them out. "I just- I'm still the new girl, and you and Danny, you two have a great relationship. You both need that. Without that, this job would be too much. I can't mess that up." She took a breath and continued, placing her hand on his hand. "But, I do trust you. I do know that." Biting her lip, she took a long breath. Her cheeks were a little pink. She hadn't meant to reveal that much of her insecurity out.

"Linds-" His nickname made her grin and the pink started to leave her cheeks. "No one thinks of you as just the new girl anymore. Everyone here thinks that you are amazing. Danny and I will be friends regardless of anything you do or don't tell me." He reassured her quietly.

She stared at him for a minute before impulsively hugging him. "Thanks." She told him quietly.

He chuckled as they separated. "No problem." They started walking back to the main hallway. He turned his head to look at her. "So SciFi channel is playing Ice Spiders again tonight. Pizza at my place?"

She grinned widely. "I'll bring ingredients, we can have a pizza making party instead." Being friends with Lindsay brought all the best benefits he decided.

_TBC- _

_I hope to update every two days or so. _

_Any criticisms/ ideas are always appreciated.  
_


	3. I'll Come Back When Call Me

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

3/12

* * *

"Yo, man, you ready to go?" Danny interrupted Lindsay and Don's debate over what to watch tonight. Don's guilty facial expression clearly showed that he had not remembered. Lindsay paused while tugging off her lab coat.

"Ah-" Don hesitated looking between Lindsay and Danny. He looked so sheepish that Lindsay had to fight to keep her grin hidden.

"Go." At his hesitant expression, she added with a laugh. "Seriously, go. We can watch terrible tv another night. Besides Stella has wanted me to go out with her for awhile anyway." She placed her lab coat on the hook inside her locker and pulled out her purse.

Not overly enthusiastic and mostly still looking at Lindsay, he told Danny. "Yeah, sounds good. Let me just drop this file off." With an agreement to meet at the elevator in ten minutes, Danny left to clear the lab up, leaving Don and Lindsay alone again. He gripped the door of her locker stopping her from going. "You sure you're okay with this? Cause really I can spend the time with you."

"Well it's clear that you can." She teased him but Flack wasn't letting her get out of this so easily. Sighing loudly, this time her answer was more serious. "I told you that I wasn't going to come in between you two. You can hang out with your other friends. You don't _need_ to hang out with me everyday. I will be okay on my own. I told you that you don't owe me anything more."

His jaw clenched briefly and his fingers tightened on the locker. "Is that what you think I am doing here? That this is all some sort of pity I feel for you?" He meant to control his voice but that had failed immediately. The idea that she thought he was hanging out with her due to some sense of obligation hurt more than he wanted to admit. The dismay in his voice came out clearer than he wanted.

She winced and tried to backtrack. "God, no. Don, No. I just meant that as much as I love spending time with you, I don't want you to blow off your other friends." Placing her hand over his tightly clenched fingers, she added. "I swear that came out not what I meant it as." He stared at her for a moment longer examining her face before smiling at her. "Tomorrow movie marathon?"

"Definitely." She smiled up at him. "Come to my place, I've got a popcorn maker." He grinned back and headed out. "Have fun tonight!" Lindsay called after him.

####

Don leaned against the bar and checked his phone for the 100th time. Danny was hitting on some blonde girl next to him. He had tried to pick up a girl but since they were not holding his interest, he gave up. He had gone out to hang out with Danny not try to get a girl. Mostly now he was waiting until he could leave without Danny calling him out on dipping out so quickly and slowly drinking his beer. Sighing he realized that he could be eating pizza and watching movies with Lindsay rather than trying to waste time at the bar. Might as well see what she was up to, he decided as he pulled out his phone.

Meanwhile Lindsay, at the club with Stella, tried to get into the music. While it was fun to hang out with Stella again at dinner, the club Stella decided on annoyed her. The cocktails were much too expensive; the guys were sleazy. Her head pounded from the music; her feet ached from her shoes. She sat at the bar stool taking a break from dancing. Ignoring the guy across the bar making eye-contact with her, Lindsay slowly studied the room. The guy in her line of sight tried a ridiculous line complete with arm move on the girl next to him. Laughing quietly, Lindsay turned to share the sight with Don. Remembering before she turned around, she instead took a long sip of her beer. Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Flack. _How's your girls night going?_ She got a funny feeling in her chest and grinned goofily.

She texted back quickly, enjoying talking to him again. _Slowly. I was just about to text you actually. _He chuckled at her quick response.

_We do not appear to be really embracing the going out aspect of the night out do we?_ _Since this is the best part of my night._ He gave up any pretense of paying attention to anything at the bar.

_ Meet at your place in 15? _She asked quickly desperate to get out of this club and her shoes.

_Be there in 10. I'll order the pizza now. _Obviously neither of them seemed upset about leaving. They both left with only a cursory goodbye to Stella and Danny. Neither of their companions really seemed to notice that they were there in the first place.

He let out a slow whistle as he opened the door for her. "Nice cleaning up, Monroe." She rolled her eyes at his tone and whistle.

"Do you have any sweats I can borrow? While attractive, this is not an outfit that is conducive for lounging about." She asked already heading toward his closet.

"Go ahead." He laughed as he noticed that she was already inside his room. "Ya know, you could at least pretend to wait for an answer." He loved that she felt so comfortable in his apartment. The best part of the explosion was that it brought Lindsay and his relationship much closer than before.

Lindsay called back. "Why since I already know your answer." After slight pause, she added. "Also, I am fairly certain that I can still take you down." She came out of his room wearing a pair of large sweatpants and a white shirt that he was certain didn't belong to him. The sweatpants barely hung onto her hips but the shirt clung fairly tightly. He blamed the alcohol that his eyes lingered on her chest and when he realized that he really liked it when she was wearing his clothes.

"That is not my shirt." He told her as she sprawled out on the couch leaning against him.

"Wow, you are a detective." His eye roll made her giggle. She decided to blame that on the alcohol. "Remember after I spilled chocolate sauce down my shirt like a month ago, you washed it and apparently forgot to give it back." She looked down for a second before glancing back up with a grin on her face. "It's especially handy to have around here though."

They sprawled out on the couch. His legs stretched in front of him on the coffee table; her legs were spread sideways with her head against his chest. He draped his arm over her. Neither one admitted that relaxing together was more fun than clubbing or picking up girls at the bar. Instead, they just sat in comfortable silence and watched highlights on ESPN.

_TBC_

_Next Chapter: 'Cause You're Not Where You Belong: Inside My Arms_

_(If anyone wondered, the chapter titles are song lyrics)  
_


	4. Cause You're Not Where You Belong

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

4/12

Thanks for the sweet reviews and alerts. I really appreciate knowing how you feel about the story.

* * *

"You, Come here." Lindsay stuck her head out the locker room door and called Flack over. She grabbed his tie and pulled him faster into the room. She didn't move away from the door when he came into the room, leaving them inches apart. "Smell."

He froze and not just because she was standing extremely close to him just under his chin. "Linds?" He asked with confusion evident in his tone.

"Smell me." She poked his chest while she ordered him. "What do I smell like?"

"Ah…" Still completely mystified he gave in and leaned forward until his nose was centimeters above her head and sniffed. "Florally?"

"Are you sure? Nothing else?" She pressed his chest again but this time she pushed her whole hand flat and leaned closer. He clenched his jaw in an effort to keep from moving in toward her. He took another sniff, concentrating harder trying to keep from imagining pushing her against the wall and kissing her.

"A little citrusy perhaps?" He added bemusedly. She nodded obviously pleased and walked back toward her locker. He followed her still at a loss as to why she just pulled him into the locker room to smell her. "What just happened?" Then he looked down at her outfit. "You cleaned up good. Got a hot date?" He joked.

"There was a terrible decomp tonight. I can't smell like death on a first date." He did a double take at her words, not expecting her to actually have a date. "I don't particularly care a lot about this guy but he deserves more than the scent of death." Lindsay explained. He tried to ignore the slight burn in his chest at her words. His jaw clenched slightly. By the time, she turned back to him though he had unclenched them slightly. "Unfortunately, I have lost my sense of smell after spending hours in body muck." He grimaced in understanding. "Therefore I needed you to smell it since you were not in an enclosed space for three hours with _that_ smell."

He smiled at her explanation and the wrinkled nose she was sporting. "Well, you smell nice too. I assume the citrusy smell was from the lemons."

She chuckled at the memory. "About 6 of them." She contemplated him for a second before asking. "This outfit okay?" She twirled. The flouncy skirt billowed and the glitter of the tanktop caught the fluorescent lights. He appraised her seriously.

"Yeah, yea. It- you look nice." She smiled at the compliment. "Are you sure that you are ready for this?" He put a hand on her shoulder in a combined effort to get her to pay attention to his question and to keep his attention on her face.

"No, I'm really not." Don stared for a second then opened his mouth to speak. She interrupted him hastily. "But I am not really attracted to or interested in this guy. I just need a couple of rebound dates before I am ready for another relationship." He must have looked still perplexed cause she chuckled and added. "I can't jump from Danny to someone else I care about. I would judge everything against Danny. This way, I have some random guys to use as judges and erase any comparison to the dates that Danny took me on." In a weird way, he actually understood her reasoning.

At this explanation, he let her go and sat down to watch her finish getting ready. "So who is this guy?" He asked with an innocent tone and expression.

She turned her head to him and narrowed her eyes at his question. "Nu-uh, no way. I am not letting you guys run background and credit checks on him. We are going on one date." Though she was flattered at his protectiveness.

He mocked offensive. "I would never do that to your date." She did not appear convinced of his innocence but went back to doing her make-up. "I may have thought he was simply a witness in a ongoing case and need to know some information about him." She chuckled in amusement at his thinly veiled excuses. "So where are you going?"

This time she pointed her mascara wand at him. "No, I am not giving you anymore information." She turned back around and finished her eyes. "I am not letting you conveniently show up because I need to fill something at that exact second."

He grinned unrepentantly. "I could just pull up the GPS on your phone." She chuckled, pleased to have someone care so much about her. He held his hand in a faux-pledge. "I promise not to interrupt your date with anything not pertaining directly to a pressing case. You are on call, right?" She nodded yes distractedly.

Then with one last check on her makeup she turned around to face him. "Does this look alright?" He let out a slow soft whistle and wiggled his eyebrows up and down with a silly smile on his face. She did look really gorgeous though. She laughed out loud at his teasing. "I'll take that as a possible complement." She grabbed her purse and shut her locker. "Come on, you can walk me out."

He obediently stood and followed her. She linked arms with him as they walked through the halls and stood in front of the elevator. "Thanks for your help." He nodded. Danny called Flack from one of the labs. "Go." She gestured toward the lab. He started to walk away but was stopped several feet away when she called him back. "If you interrupt this for anything less than a case, I will get my revenge." She threateningly pointed her finger at him.

He grinned widely and rocked back on his heels. "I'm afraid that's not very intimidating." He challenged her as he hooked his thumbs on his belt.

"You should be very afraid." She threatened archly. The elevator dinged and she walked in. "See you tomorrow." She waved at him as the door closed.

Unfortunately as with most Friday nights in New York, there were a rash of homicides. They had gone to an early art show and were planning on going to dinner when Flack pulled up in front of the art show. She and her date were walking out when he rolled his window down.

"Linds!" She stopped and stared at him. "Come on, 2 DBs." He called on to her. She looked more amused at him showing up to her date than upset at him interrupting. After a quick apology to her date, she sat in the passenger seat next to him.

She stared at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "How did you know where I was?" She asked.

"You told Stella where and when this art show was. I realized that it is on the way to the crime scene so I offered to pick you up." She didn't look entirely satisfied. He raised his hands in innocence. "I promise." He neglected to tell her that he had volunteered to pick her up rather vehemently.

Still shaking her head and grinning, she changed the subject. "So what's happening?"

"Still two John Does. Found in outside an abandoned warehouse by a rat exterminator. Apparently, they've been dead for awhile." She made a face. "Decomp appears to be more of mummification then wet smelly decomp. Don't worry, you won't need more lemons."

"Anyone meeting us there?" She asked as she switched her heels to the pair of flats she kept in her purse.

"Nah, everyone is spread a little thin right now." They stopped for a red light and he turned toward her. "We tried to keep you from being called in." He didn't mention that by we, he meant Stella and Mac. He on the other hand had been quick to assume they needed another CSI. The thought of her on a date with another guy had upset him.

" I knew I was on call tonight but thanks for picking me up. My car wouldn't start tonight." She sighed. "Sometimes, New York just likes to screw with me."

He chuckled. "I can take you home later tonight. No need to walk alone through the streets at night." He saw enough of New York's seedy underbelly to know that it was dangerous and the thought of Lindsay in a morgue made his blood run cold.

The location of the bodies was devoid of any evidence except for blood pool around their heads. No high velocity blood spatter was found highly surprising considered that one died from a gunshot to the head and the other from a blunt force trauma to the head. Flack stayed nearby interviewing the exterminator and landlord as she did her sweep of the crime scene. A sudden flash of the luminol from a ladder leading to a second floor door caught her attention. After confirming that the blood was human, she carefully climbed the wooden ladder.

There was a concentration of blood spray about 1/3 of the way up the ladder. She carefully maneuvered the camera to take photos while hanging on to the ladder. A couple steps above the blood spray there was a relatively fresh scrape on the ladder. After documenting and taking evidence of the scrape, she moved further up the ladder. A scenario began to form in her mind. She climbed a few more steps until her foot was on the same step as the scrape. Wrapping one hand securely around the stringer of the ladder, she leaned forward and looked down. The blunt force body was directly below where her body was, the flashlight in her hand pointed directly onto the outline of the body. A couple rungs up, there were more scratches that looked like fingernail marks. She looked around the site, a large dumpster was about 20 feet ahead, on the other side of a fence. She mimed throwing something to the front. Her feet slipped causing her hand holding the flashlight to open trying to grip something. The flashlight hit the ground and shattered loudly.

"Lindsay!" Flack shouted. He sprinted from the other side of the building, holding his gun ready. He spotted her on the ladder and ran toward her while holstering his gun. But Lindsay slowly pulled back to the ladder using her anchored hand. He stood directly below the ladder ready to catch her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yea." The adrenaline slowly slipped out of her system as she carefully climbed back down the ladder. "The flashlight fell when I slipped but, everything's fine now." She reached the ground and slowly rolled her shoulder back. The sudden pull of her body had made it sore. The pounding of her heart calmed down as she stood in front of him. He scrutinized her carefully before accepting her answer. "Plus side, I found out how they died."

"Already?" He sounded impressed. "Is that a record?"

"Probably. See that rung up there." She pointed.

"I see a lot of rungs up there."

"Your sarcasm is noted and not appreciated. The one with the first flag on it." He nodded. "There's high velocity blood spatter on it. The second flag. It's a scratch mark. And where I slipped. And there's a dumpster over there that is the perfect distance to throw a gun." He waited for her to explain it all. "I think that the first guy was shot at that stair. And the second guy tried to throw the gun away into that dumpster but slipped when he threw the gun. He landed on his head."

He hmmed in agreement as he looked up and then over to the dumpster. "Want to go dumpster diving?" He asked her with a grin at her attire.

She looked down, sighed then looked up with a wicked grin. "Give me your shirt." Used to her strange requests, he complied and handed her his dress shirt. She waved it away. "The undershirt."

"Trying to get me naked, Monroe?" He teased as he pulled off his shirt. Lindsay rolled her eyes as he smirked at her. However, she did appreciate his naked upper body. Without the large wound marring his side, his body was impeccable. She flushed then tried to push everything away. He was Danny's best friend and off-limits despite any growing attraction she felt.

She scoffed and put his shirt on over her clothes. "Trying to save my nice outfit." He grinned broadly at the sight of her in his undershirt, mostly in an attempt to get the mental image of her in only his clothes out of his mind. The hem of the shirt was only inches shorter than her skirt, making her seem almost naked. She stuck both her arms inside the shirt and after a few moments, pulled her tanktop out from the neck that she then handed to a stunned Flack. "Come on, let's get this over with." He walked behind her trying to hide his obvious distraction from her.

Luckily for Lindsay's skirt, there were only a few pieces of drywall and cardboard in the dumpster. On the drive back to the lab, he said he would track down how often and where the dumpster was emptied. He carried up some of the samples that Lindsay took, a tradition between the two of them. As they entered the elevator, her stomach growled loudly.

"Your date not feed you?" If he had taken her out, he would have at least fed her. No, no she

"He tried, you interrupted us before dinner. I was going to get a free dinner out tonight and conversation instead of either a silent lab or the TV." She looked up at him. "You owe me for tonight."

"Me?" He protested incredulously. "I was not the one who put you on the on-call register. Also, _I_ was not the one who didn't feed you at the beginning of a date."

She stepped out of the elevator toward the lab after grabbing the trace from his arms. "Still blaming you." He grinned at her teasing and headed to find Mac.

Twenty minutes later, the smell of Thai food drifted through the lab. Lindsay breathed in deep and sighed in desire for the food. Flack's voice interrupted her brief daydream of eating.

"I come bearing gifts." She opened her eyes and turned toward him. He held up bags of Thai food. "Come on into the break room." After quickly securing the evidence, she stripped her gloves and almost ran toward the smell of food. Flack was sitting at the table with two actual plates, two glasses, and a fake flower laid on a table.

"You know I was just kidding about owing me." She told him as she sat at the table with him.

"I know but, I did pull you away from a nice dinner in a restaurant setting. I decided to bring it to you." He put the food on the plates. As soon as the food hit her plate, she dug in ravenously.

After about ten minutes of rapid eating with Don looking on in amusement, she slowed down. "Thank you." She said with sincere gratitude and delight.

"I'm just sorry that your date was interrupted." He had one arm stretched across the table. She put her hand over his.

"Don't be. This is much better. He was one of the most boring people I've ever met. I was already wondering what we would talk about at dinner." She rolled her eyes. "Does anyone actually want to know the intricacies interest rates?" He probably shouldn't have been so pleased that her date was a bust.

He smirked. Her compliment meant more to him than it should have. "Admit it, you love me." His tone was purposely as arrogant as he could make it.

She scoffed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves now." His smirk had transformed into a full-blown grin by this point. He chuckled and went back to his food.

_TBC_


	5. This is My Winter Song To You

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

5/12

* * *

He skidded to a stop in front of her lab. "Come on, Linds. Come outside with me for a minute." He urged her like a small child on Christmas pleading for his parents to come downstairs and open presents.

She shook her head and gestured to the full lab. "Do you see this? Cause this is hours of work, not taking a break time." Her work playlist was softly playing in the background.

He waved off her concerns, already holding her winter coat from her locker. "It'll take a minute." He said persuasively with his most charming smile already on. His blue eyes twinkled with unconcealed delight. "Please Lindsay." He was almost pleading with her.

She hesitated for a moment, glancing at the evidence and then back at the Detective who was more excited than she had ever seen him before. She couldn't withstand him when he got this excited. She sighed and agreed, trading her lab coat for the winter coat he held out to her. "What's so exciting?" She laughed as he dragged her into the elevator.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You'll see." He said mysteriously as he bounced next to her in the elevator.

She swore he was almost giggling, if of course he wasn't the big bad New York detective. "Why are you acting like a child who ate too much candy?" She enjoyed this new-found light-heartedness of his a little too much. Throughout their friendship, she had gotten to know him much better than before. Having seen him at his best, his worst, sad, mad, and happy, she can honestly say that this is her favorite mood of his. Don rarely released his tightly wound control. She can't say she faults him since he has to deal with the worst parts of their cases, the crying mothers and unapologetic murderers. They might see the aftermath but he saw the emotional people left behind.

He threw a grin at her question then bounded out of the elevator to the security guard. She ignored the slight blush that arose at his grin. He grabbed one of the two coffee cups and handed it to her. "Because this is the best time ever and I can't wait for you to see this." He took a long swig of it and smacked his lips.

She took a more cautious sip. "Peppermint hot chocolate? You truly are reverting back to a child." He clutched his heart in mock pain, an action that did not help his case.

As they reached the door, he turned to her with eyebrows raised. "You ready?" She nodded and sipped her drink, deciding that she does like this hot chocolate a lot. He pushed the door open and gently pulled her outside. They walked together down to the street where he stood and looked expectantly toward her.

"I am supposed to be seeing something." Lindsay said a bit bemused. Really, this whole situation has been very strange.

"It's the first sticking snowfall." He explained. She understood immediately, opening her mouth to comment. Suddenly his hand was covering her mouth. "So quit talking and experience it." Deciding to embrace his juvenile mind set, she licked his hand, causing him to immediately snatch his hand away. "Really what are you five?" He wiped his hand on her coat.

She shrugged at him. "I'm just following your lead." He rolled his eyes and told her to be quiet again. They stand in silence for a little while just observing the city. The soft hiss of the snow started to cover all the other noise. Even the city that never sleeps seemed calmer when it's snowing.

"You're right." She told him quietly. The mood was so serene that she can't find it in her to break it. He looked at her questioningly. "This might be my new favorite day too."

Suddenly his immature mood was back. "Can't be. It was mine first." She gaped at him then starting chuckling loudly.

"I cannot handle you like this." An ambulance streaked by, siren blaring and startled them both out of the moment. She sighed heavily. "I should probably go back to work. Dumpster diving gives you a lot of evidence to go over." He turned to go inside and something on his cheek caught her attention. "Wait." He stopped and turned back toward her. "You've got something on your cheek." She used her thumb to slowly brush off a splash of hot chocolate from his cheek. The moment seemed undeniably intimate with the snow lightly falling. Her hand fell slowly from his cheek back to her side. She wanted to run her hands through his hair and pull him closer. She really really shouldn't be thinking like that though. It was becoming a more common mantra in her mind with every passing day.

"We should get back to work." He said slowly. He couldn't think of anything but her hand on his face. That line of thinking would just lead to him kissing her and that would end extremely poorly for him. She's not mine, he repeated to himself over and over again.

"Yeah." She chugged the rest of the hot chocolate and tossed it away with a flourish. Flack laughed at her victory dance. They walked back to the lab entrance before they needed to separate. "Thanks for showing me this, Don. I really appreciate this."

He shrugged a little self-consciously. "I wanted to share my favorite day with you." She grinned, kissed his cheek and went back to the lab. He smiled for the rest of the day.

_TBC_


	6. Things That Should Be Left Unsaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

6/12

* * *

Flack stood in the hallway, filling in Mac and Danny on the recent developments in their case. As he was walking away, Lindsay's smothered gasp of pain and reflexive clutch of her arm against her body caught his attention. He ducked into her lab. "Woah Linds, you okay?" She took a deep breath but nodded tightly with a slight twitch of her lips. He smirked tautly. "That was convincing. Let's tell the truth this time." She always forgot how poorly she was able to lie to him.

"Yeah, I just moved my shoulder too fast." He gave her another look clearly showing that he did not believe her. "What? It's the truth." She hadn't wanted this to become a big deal especially around him. As much as she loved being his friend, he was extremely overprotective.

"You still can't move your arm. You almost cried out in pain. Let's try this one more time. What happened?" Flack moved closer with every word. His expression appeared angrier and more worried with every one of her evasions. Lindsay lying to him never ended up well.

"Okay okay." She raised her hands in surrender. The action led to the unfortunate consequence that it also moved her arm so she cried out in pain. Comprehension dawned on his face. After enough experience on the job, he could recognize the signs of most injuries. He looked closer at her and noticed the red area slowly turning darker at her hairline on the left side of her head.

"How did you dislocate your shoulder?" He gritted his teeth in an attempt to calm down. He narrowed his eyes. "And why are you lying about this?"

"I realized that we were missing a part of the weapon. It must have been at the crime scene." He started shaking his head back and forth. "So I went back. I was worried it would be washed away in the storm so I went without waiting for back up. I called it in but I arrived first." He pushed his hands down onto the table. She winced slightly, hesitating before continuing. "Unfortunately, the suspect had the same idea I had but he thought it would wash out of the hiding place."

"Are you kidding me?" He asked rhetorically as he straightened up. "What the hell were you thinking?"

She didn't take a scolding lightly by him. "I was thinking that I would save evidence and put a murderer into prison. Look, NYPD was too busy." He raised his eyebrows. "Oh come on it's not a criticism, it's a fact. They got to the site as soon as they could though."

"Oh so they can find your body sooner? Were you even conscious?" Flack added sarcastically, folding his arms against his chest and leaning against the table. "Linds, he could have killed you." The words made him breathe a little faster.

"I'm not stupid Flack." She rolled her eyes at his statement. "I'm not trying to be killed." All she wanted was to keep the evidence from being destroyed and letting the guy free.

"Really? Cause from where I'm standing, you're taking a lot of unnecessary risks. I understand that-"

"No. Saving that evidence was not an unnecessary risk." She added, self deprecatingly and under her breath as she turned to check some results. "It's not like I have anyone to mourn the loss of me." It had been a long day and the victim's mother had seen the body at the scene. Everything was just a little overwhelming today.

She hadn't counted on Flack's years of listening to suspect's murmers. "Is that what you think?" He looked dumbstruck at her. "Just because Danny was a douchebag doesn't mean that this entire lab would be devastated to lose you. Even Danny would upset if you got hurt much less killed." He couldn't handle thinking about her death right now. He was worried enough when he thought she was sore from her double shift. After Aiden and the explosion, he really didn't want think about any more of his friends dying. He teased her to lighten up the mood anything to get that look off her face. "Who else can do practical demonstrations like rubbing gel on Mac's face? Where would we learn random facts?" She smiled at him, simultaneously flattered and amused by his description of her quirks. At her grin, the full weight of consequences hit him. His chest tightened at the thought of a future without her grinning at him when she gets results or an idea. "Hang on, how did I not find out about this?"

She looked guilty for the first time. "I may have asked them not to tell you." She smiled nervously and bit her lip.

He was stunned. "Them as in the paramedics and the cops?" He pressed her incredulously and her guilty expression deepened.

"As in the cops and Sheldon." She winced in preparation of his reactions.

He fought hard to keep from yelling and succeeded in achieving only a raised voice. "You didn't even go to the hospital?" He brushed his hand lightly over the bruise forming on her head. He voice gentled as his hand stilled on the side of her head with his fingers twined through her hair.

"No. That's really too much hassle for a minor head injury." She grinned and for the first time, he noticed that everything about her appeared a little shaky right now. "Seriously, I'm fine. Mac and the others don't even know. I told the cops that you didn't need to be worried in the middle of your shift for something so minor." She always underestimated his abilities at reading people.

"Minor huh?" He placed his other hand on her cheek. "Are you really okay? I know how frightening even minor injuries are. Let alone ones that leave you unconscious." He could tell how she was trying to hide her true feelings. He wished that he could kiss her right now. But he couldn't, so he would settle for getting her to trust him completely. "Hey, remember that you've seen me at my worst. I would never judge you or tell anyone what you tell me." He reminded her.

Her face crumpled as her control broke. "He was right in front of me." Her voice sounded choked. Anger rose through him as he thought of her in danger. "He pulled a gun out and pistol whipped me." She took a breath, trying to compose herself. "I woke up from my shoulder being dislocated as he dragged me by one arm into the other room." She looked up at him with tear-rimmed eyes. "The cops scared him off before-"

The catch in her voice did him in. He moved his hands around to the back of her head and pulled her closer. She buried her head in his shirt and her arms locked around his suit jacket. He kissed the top of her forehead. "You're safe now. He's locked up." He was almost crooning, something Don Flack never did. He let her break apart in his arms as she finally dealt with the terror that inevitability came from being hurt on the job.

Her sobs became less hysterical and the shuddering slowly faded away. She took one last deep breath with her forehead tilted against his chest before pulling away from him. He could sense her nervousness and embarrassment at having been so vulnerable in front of him.

"Well, I am relieved." He spoke teasingly. "For a moment, I thought you would have the same reaction that I have to these situations which is to punch the first person to infuriate me." He patted his side. "I'm not sure I could take one of your Montana punches. I mean really, what girl can take down a 200 pound gang leader with one punch?"

His teasing had the desired effect of simultaneously distracting her and making her grin at him. "A girl who has knowledge of human anatomy and many summers of throwing hay bails behind her."

The relief he felt at seeing her grin again was overwhelming. "It's a little terrifying. You're so little and yet pack a helluva of a punch." He further provoked her.

"Just cause you are intimidated by a girl doesn't mean all men are." She smirked at before adding. "Aren't you detective types supposed to be afraid of nothing? Scared of a 'little girl?'"

He brushed off her insult. "I never said I was scared, I was merely stating that you are an intimidating person." She rolled her eyes at his sidestepping. "So you hungry? Cause I am."

"That's because you are a guy and therefore find it necessary to be hungry every 30 minutes." She stripped off her gloves and hung her lab coat up. "But, yes I am."

She walked past him to get to the door. He thought about this for a moment before reaching out and grabbing her arm. She spun toward him perplexedly. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously with one hand but kept a hold of one hand still. The feelings rose up in his chest, suffocating him and forcing him to speak.

She stood waiting patiently in front of him. He spoke quietly and quickly. "Look Linds, I won't bring this up again. I just need you to understand how incredibly dangerous going alone to a crime scene is." She opened her mouth to protest. "Wait, just listen. I cannot imagine losing another colleague right now much less losing a friend. I don't want to find another lunch partner. I don't want to find someone else to watch football with." He swallowed hard. "I know this has been a hard year for you. But I cannot lose you so please, _please_, take care of yourself."

The raw emotion evident in his voice made her pause for a moment. Apparently her accident had rattled him as badly as it rattled her. She nodded emphatically. He dropped her hand. Changing the subject quickly and deliberately, he opened the door as he spoke. "So does chinese food work for you?"

"Only if you promise to share an order of dumplings with me." She grabbed his hand as they walked through the door. He wasn't exactly sure why she had initiated it but he certainly was not complaining about more physical contact. Despite the obstacles between them, he didn't want to stop hoping entirely for them. They were just too good together to give up on.

_TBC_


	7. All I Want to Do Is Sleep

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

7/12

* * *

Flack walked off the elevator carrying a sealed paper bag of evidence in one hand and a carrying case holding two coffees and a muffin balanced on top. He veered toward Lindsay's lab where he assumed she would be during such an intense case. She glanced up at him and sent him a distracted, exhausted smile. He held up a coffee, a gesture that had her widening her eyes in gratitude. The excessive emotion at such a small action worried him a little. Coming to meet him at the door, she swiped the muffin then took a large bite out of the muffin immediately. He sipped his coffee while she took the longest break in the past 10 hours.

"Linds, when was the last time you slept?" He asked gently as she gulped the coffee. As she took another giant bite, he continued. "Or ate?" This case was obviously eating at her and he hated not being able to do anything about it.

"Ah." She checked the time and tilted her head as she calculated this. "36, no 38 hours ago. I had lunch about 10 hours ago. Don't worry Mac would have forced me to eat soon." He must have looked shocked cause she laughed. Largely because Lindsay never got a math problem wrong. "Nothing a little coffee and this muffin won't solve right now." He was not convinced. "I can be a little tired until this little boy is found." She was adamant. He recognized both her determination and her need to be here. At least, she was getting some fuel from her blueberry muffin. He sipped his coffee quietly worrying about the consequences of this case on her as she scarfed down her muffin. If this little boy was harmed, Lindsay would be devastated topped off with massive sleep deprivation and it was a recipe for disaster.

"Alright, whatcha got for me?" He settled on a stool waiting to be filled in. Adam came in and added his two cents. After listening to both of their evidence, he got up to find Mac and see what they could tell him, anything to narrow the search area down. He stopped at the door. "Lindsay, you get a chance, take a nap in Mac's office. After too long, you won't be any help because of your sleep deprivation." She nodded absentmindedly at him distracted by the new evidence he had brought her. Her coffee was already sitting forgotten on the floor by her door. His lips quirked in a semblance of a smile at her determination.

Two hours later, he entered the lab again but this time with as much of a spring in his step as possible on as little sleep as he had had. He walked toward Mac's office assuming that would be where everyone would be congregating waiting for the outcome. Except that for the first time, his lights were off. When he got closer, he realized Lindsay was asleep on the couch. Her body twisted into the cushions almost desperately. Deciding to let her sleep, he turned instead to Stella's office where Stella, Danny and Mac waited. Sheldon and Adam had already gone home after Flack called with the good news.

"We got them." He announced as he entered the office. "Every last one of those scumbags." He dropped into a chair and rubbed his hands over his eyes. "The baby should be fine. Child services has him while they hunt down the dad." Mac smiled widely and hugged Stella. Danny raised his fist albeit slower than usual.

Flack answered a few of their questions before the initial rush of adrenaline was depleted and exhaustion overcame them all. He yawned widely. "I think I have to catch up on some sleep."

"Yea, I should probably wake Lindsay." Mac stood up. "She passed out about an hour ago. I forced her to sleep for a little bit when Lindsay was literally swaying where she stood." Amusement and fondness colored his tone. "She refused to leave without knowing the fate of that little boy."

Don laughed though a little weaker than usual. "That sounds like our Lindsay. I'm going to go wake her up and then get going." He walked quietly to Mac's office. He hesitated a moment watching her look utterly peaceful for one rare moment without a horrible case weighing on her conscience.

He knelt next to the couch. "Hey." He spoke quietly not wanting to startle her awake. She didn't stir. He put his head on her shoulder and gently shook. "Linds, babe, you got to get up now." He winced as the babe slipped out. The combination of her looking gorgeous and his 30 hours awake had weakened his defenses. It was taking all his control not to just kiss her awake right now. She stirred slightly. "Linds. Come on." He brushed her hair from her face and her eyes fluttered open. As she made eye contact with him, she smiled intimately, almost sensually, at him still mostly asleep. He sucked in his breath at the images that flooded his head, not just her body, lips, and skin but also just of having a relationship that he could always wake her up like this. He stroked her face again, unable to resist. "We got Daniel, he's safe. You did good." She stretched a little still not entirely awake enough. "Up, up, lets get you to an actual bed." She struggled to get up so he stood up and pulled her up. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted. She stood up alone for about a millisecond before starting to fall, a slight chuckle slipped out. "You are not making this easy for me." He placed his arm under her shoulders and propped her up as he started to walk. She chuckled a little at his laugh. "Delayed reaction much?" She fluttered her eyelids at him in what he supposed was an upset manner.

She woke up enough to shuffle her feet with him as they went through the lab. In the elevator though, she was already slumping into his side. He gave up and swept an arm underneath her feet, pulling her into his arms. She weakly protested but as she couldn't form a sentence, she relented and leaned into his chest. "You know Linds, if you wanted me to hold you, you could have just asked. You didn't need to stay up 40 hours straight." She fluttered her hand at him. He smiled at her reaction. A few of the techs and cops walking in gave him amused glances. As he placed her in the car and buckled her in, he decided to just go to his place. It was much closer. With both of their sleep deprivation, there was no need to drive across town to her apartment.

Lindsay woke up slowly, still groggy but unable to sleep any longer. She opened her eyes to a strange room. Closing her eyes again, she thought about last night. She had vague memories of Flack carrying her out of the lab last night. She must be in his apartment. She turned over and sure enough, he was sleeping heavily next to her on top of the covers with a pillow barrier between them. She took the rare quiet moment to study him. He looked so at peace, a rare sight indeed for an NYPD detective. Staring at him, lying in his bed and smelling his detergent, she realized that far from being uncomfortable, she felt entirely too comfortable with this situation. More than anything, Lindsay wanted to be able to wake up like this for something other than staying up late with a case.

His eyes opened quickly and met her gaze as if sensing her eyes. He stretched out. "Sleep okay?" He asked with his voice still gravely from sleep. A pool of heat flooded her stomach. He stretched again and his lack of a shirt caught her notice. Her nerves tingled. Really, an almost naked Don in bed with her was a little more than she could handle.

"Like a rock." She answered as a way to distract herself.

He turned over on his side, facing her, and smirked. "I know, you barely woke up even after I shook you awake and forced you to walk. I had to carry you. You felt like a rock."

She had turned to face him as he spoke. At his comment, she reached over and punched his arm. "I do not."

He grinned, the combination of the good ending to their case and this morning provided him with a terrific mood. "I really think you owe me considering I had to carry you all the way back here."

"Aren't you supposed to be a big bad strong detective? And you're complaining about carrying a girl?" She shook her head with a disappointed expression. "Not really living up to the reputation."

He stared in shock at her before challenging her. "Really? Insulting my manhood? That is the path that you are going to go down here. Let us keep in mind that I carried you from the lab to the here just to make sure you didn't have to wake up." He could almost pretend that they were a couple and she woke up with him every morning.

"Uh-huh, just keep complaining." She smiled at him though. "But I do owe you for that. So how about I make breakfast?" She sat up. "You have the day off right?"

"Yeah, I do." He sat up as well. "Need some help with breakfast?"

"No, you cooked last time we were hanging out." She called back as she left the room. "But you can help me with the clean up."

"Dishes? I carried you back home." He protested as he followed her into the kitchen.

"You called me a rock." He sat at the counter and watched her. "Now you have to clean." She pointed to him with a spatula she had just grabbed. "And I am going to use as many pans as possible."

They drifted into small talk as she prepared the pancakes and bacon. She put each separate ingredient into individual containers shooting him wicked smiles as he protested every time. The entire time, all he could think about was how badly he wanted her to be here every morning. How badly he wanted to wake up to her slow smile every morning. And how he wanted to be the one to muss her hair up at night.

_TBC_

(This was my favorite chapter in the whole series so please let me know what you thought!)


	8. Next Thing We're Touching

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

8/12

* * *

When Lindsay rushed into his room, Flack was already awake and was lying prone with his eyes open. His expression showed equal parts of delight and surprise at her sudden appearance in his room. The giant white bandage on his shoulder frightened her more than she cared to admit. Her stomach was tied in knots. His reaction only slightly loosened the tension.

His smile was a little less reserved than usual and his voice sounded much too lackadaisical for Don Flack to be sober. "You know, I was just about to call you." A smaller bandage covered his left temple. At his words, the ball of nerves in her stomach disappeared and she breathed normally for the first time since Mac got the call.

As he was clearly not in any immediate danger, Lindsay allowed both the relief rushing through her veins and her amusement at his drugged state bleed through. "Oh yeah? Imagine that." She perched on the edge of his bed

"Sometime I wonder. Are you psychic?" He sounded entirely serious: his eyes staring widely at her without that glint that usually revealed his teasing. She laughed out loud at his question ignoring his offended look at her obvious amusement. The relief made her giddy.

"No. I promise I am not reading your mind. It's probably a good thing that I won't here all your dirty thoughts." Lindsay poked fun at him. Now that she knew he wasn't injured, she might as well take advantage of his drug-addled state.

"They are only dirty sometimes." She chuckled in disbelief at his state. "It's only when you do something really sexy." He widened his eyes to impress her of his sincerity. "I promise." Her stomach clenched at the thought.

She was saved the trouble of replying by the doctor coming in to check on him. She discreetly left the room as the doctor explained what was going on to him. As her stomach grumbled, she regretted the rash decision not to eat before rushing over to see him. After Mac had mentioned that Detective Flack was in the hospital, she had to wait the rest of her shift fidgeting and worrying until finally she hurried in a near blind panic to the hospital. Deciding that this would be a perfect way to regain her composure after his confession, she went to get a sandwich from the cafeteria before coming back to his room. When she got there, he was away getting an MRI. She settled into a chair to wait until he returned.

His head felt a little like someone had smashed a sledgehammer against it, which as he remembered was kind of what had happened. He walked in through the door, startling Lindsay who woke with a jump. He hadn't really expected her to be at the hospital but it did make his bargain easier to fulfill. His last coherent thought had been about her. As he had laid there in the ambulance, he had made a deal with himself and he wasn't going to break it.

"Hey," she spoke quietly running her hands through her hair that had become a little flattened from sleeping against the wall. The relief clearly showed on her face that he was walking on his own.

"I'm not complaining but you didn't need to stay here." He sat down next to her and intertwined their fingers. She noticed that his smile looked more nervous and less free.

"I wanted to." Suddenly, her face tightened and her voice rose. "I seem to remember a rather loud conversation, that was mostly you yelling if you remember, about not taking risks. Getting shot does not seem to be following your own advice."

He winced. "Look our jobs are dangerous. There was-"

"Uh-huh, you didn't let me pull that excuse so you don't get to pull it out." She leaned closer to him, slowly tracing the edge of his bandage then ran one of her hands through his hair. "I don't want to lose you either."Her tone was lower and more intimate on the last sentence.

The combination of her hands in his hair and her words made him throw caution to the wind. He twisted his chair around to face her. By tugging her hand that he held, he pulled her closer then wrapped his hand through her hair. She stopped talking at the look in his eyes and his rather strange actions. "Just don't hit me on my head." He murmured then closed the gap between them. At first, the kiss was rather chaste. She was startled and he was trying not to scare her. But then she kissed him back and everything changed. A year of pent up sexual tension was fighting to be released as her lips slide against hers. She opened her mouth to say something but instead he took control of the kiss. He figured he might as well throw it all in. Suddenly, she pulled back abruptly. Her hands were clutching his good shoulder and his were still wound through her hair. His eyes seemed a little glazed over but it was unclear whether that was from the drugs, pain or kiss.

"Are you still high on painkillers?" She asked him suspiciously.

"No," He grinned relieved that she hadn't shoved him away. "I have wanted to do that for months. It just took a bullet for me to get the courage to do it." He made eye contact with her. His tone changed from amusement to one of earnestness. "Are you okay with that? Cause I can forget it, I'm not willing to lose you completely."

His tone and words surprised her. No one had ever cared that much about her before. "No, I am good. I just want to make sure you knew what was going on." She had known for a while that she had feelings beyond platonic for him. She just hadn't wanted to ruin their friendship by acting on them.

"Worried you were taking advantage of me?" He teased her with a huge grin on his face. Finally, he didn't have to remind himself not to think of her as his or fight to keep from kissing her. He could touch her without worrying anymore.

She ran her fingers through his hair again. "Maybe a little. When I was here last time, you said that you have dirty dreams about me." Too her surprise, he didn't seem embarrassed by the fact merely chuckled at the way it had come out. She traced the outline of his shoulder bandage with one finger and her voice became more serious. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He took her hand from his shoulder and held it carefully intertwining their fingers again. "I've got a killer headache and it might take a little while for my shoulder to heal but the bullet just clipped me." He had an intense look in his eyes and softly his thumb stroked her hand. "Linds, I'll never do something stupidly reckless. Trust me that I will never leave you purposely after having waited much too long to actually do anything about my feelings for you."

The emotion bubbled up through her chest, restricting her ability to breathe. At a loss for words, she kissed him again. This time, he didn't hold anything back. He was going to show her how much she had driven him crazy these past months. His lips slightly turned upward at the first press of her lips against his. Quickly though the kiss turned more intense. His hands intertwined in her hair, his tongue slipped into her mouth. He had fought too hard to let her go anytime soon.

_TBC_


	9. Can You Lie Next to Her?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

9/12

Thanks for all the sweet reviews. I love hearing your thoughts and views on this story.

* * *

Lindsay buried her head in her hands, sighing, as she listened the 911 call for the twentieth time. Somebody pushed her shoulder gently. Smelling her shower gel, she elbowed his stomach playfully.

"Get out of my bubble." She told him without looking up. "You are breaking my concentration."

After pulling the headphones off her head, Don chuckled and commented. "You are talking much too loud."

This time she looked up at him. "Cut me some slack, they are noise-canceling." Her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Is there a particular reason you have invaded my space or are you just distracting me?"

Don retreated slightly to lean against her table with one hip. "Actually I wanted to extend an invitation to you."

She twirled her chair toward him. "Oh yeah? Where to?"

Looking around quickly to check if they were alone, he twirled her hair with his right hand then softly ran his fingers across her forehead. "My apartment. We haven't had much time to ourselves lately. This way even though my shift gets off after yours, we can spend some time together. What do you say?" He missed her when she wasn't waking up with him. Just catching lunch in the midst of cases wasn't enough.

She smiled exuberantly. Her brilliant smile actually improved his day, which worried him a little. They had only been dating, despite never actually going on an official date, for a month. He had fallen hard. "I'll need a key then unless you are the kind of guy who gets turned on by B&Es." She teased him quietly. "That would be hard as a detective to keep your cool then."

He almost snorted in amusement. "I'm pretty sure I get turned on by everything you do." She hit his stomach lightly again before raising her palm expectantly. He held up one key. "Now this is my only key. If you aren't there than I will be locked out of my own apartment."

The glint in her eyes turned sinful. "Trust me Detective. I'll be there." The promise her eyes held gave him the power to get through interviewing the latest child murdering asshole. He placed it flat on her palm and then kissed her quickly before leaving. She listened to the recording again with a goofy smile on her face.

#####

"Up and at 'em, babe." Lindsay's voice trickled into his dream.

Groaning, he tried to pull his pillow back over his head. A moment later, he felt a warm weight settle over his thighs. The pillow was removed from his head but he kept his eyes tightly closed. A warm breath sighed into his ear and her hands pressed down against his shoulders. A rush of lust flooded his system. He opened his eyes quickly and sat up, pulling her on top of him. Her arms wound around his shoulders; his wrapped around her waist, dragging her closer to his body.

"I'll get up for this wake up call." He told her huskily before slanting his mouth against hers. She ground against him almost unconsciously and he slid his hands down to her thighs.

When they paused for a breath, she chuckled. "Well, something certainly is up."

"Can you blame me after that wake-up call?" He said with a sinful gleam in his eyes. He kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She responded eagerly running her fingernails against his scalp. He groaned against her mouth. Then started to push her shirt up. "This is the best wake-up call ever."

Laughing, she clambered off him. "Well, now that you woke up." She gave him a cup of coffee. "I've got to get to eat breakfast quickly." His mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Wait-What?" He swung his feet around the bed and followed her into the kitchen. "You are going to leave after that?"

"I told you I had to go to work early today last night when you wanted me to sleep over." She defended herself as he leaned against the bedroom door watching her pull toast from the toaster oven. On his breakfast bar, there were two plates of eggs, bacon and toast. She added as she crunched into the toast. "And if I don't eat, I get cranky."

"It's impossible for you to be cranky." He walked toward her as he spoke entering the small kitchen. He placed his hands on the counter on either side of her effectively trapping her with his body. "Also, I might have a better offer than breakfast." He began to drop kisses along her neck.

She turned around suddenly in his arms. Opening his mouth to further his argument, it was suddenly filled with toast. "Eat. Later, we can discuss your better offer."

He swallowed harshly. "Oh yea, you might have to make it up to me." Shaking her head, she ducked under his arms and went to sit in the bar, eating her breakfast.

"Eat. You've got to get your strength up. We have plans later." She told him as she took a bite of eggs.

Reluctantly he pushed up off the counter and sat next to her in the bar. Noticing with pleasure that his eggs were prepared exactly like he liked, he started eating as well.

When he was about halfway through his meal, Lindsay suddenly gasped. "I need to go. I am really going to be late now." Shoving the rest of her eggs in her mouth, she walked back quickly to the kitchen. She tried to simultaneously put on her shoe and load the dishwasher.

He frowned looking at the clock in confusion. "No you aren't. Doesn't your shift start at 9?" She nodded distractedly as she started to find her bag. "You have an extra fifteen minutes. My apartment is closer than yours." She stopped her frantic movements, tilted her head checking his math and then grinned at him. He laughed at her relief. "See how staying over actually helps you in the morning despite your smart-alec comments."

She bent down to put her dishes in the dishwasher. "Keep saying stuff like that I am never giving your key back." Lindsay joke threatened at her.

"Keep making me breakfast and I will never ask for it back." Flack retorted. He looked up at the clock again. "You know, I have a brilliant idea on how to spend the next 12 minutes." He suggested with a lascivious smile.

"It takes about that to get undressed then dressed again, think again Flack."

"Monroe." He gasped in mock outrage. "I was going to suggest another cup of coffee and the newspaper. You have a dirty mind."

She rolled her eyes as she poured him a cup of coffee. "Just for that. I am taking the sports page first."

He breathed out in displeasure. "You fight dirty, Lindsay. Really dirty."

_TBC_


	10. And It's All Things Too Frightening

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

10/12

* * *

Don Flack stretched his legs out on his desk as the last bit of paperwork he needed to finish floated to his desk. He dropped his pen with a satisfying clunk to his desk. Maybe tonight he could get off-duty on time and actually be able to spend time with Lindsay since she pulled the early shift as well. Filing everything away, he grinned at the prospect of a quiet night in with Lindsay. It had been a little while since they had time together. He could surprise her with some home-cooked Italian food.

Angel caught his eye and chuckled. "What has you so thrilled today?"

He loosened his tie with relish. "Getting off on time tonight which means I can get to spend an uninterrupted night with my girl tonight."

"Ah, the secret girlfriend." She teased.

He shook his head slowly with a fond smile on his face. "Nah, just private. I don't like broadcasting my personal life at work and neither does she." He cleaned his desk again.

Jess didn't seem overly surprised to hear the implication that his girlfriend worked her but she commented anyway. "You work together?"

His cell-phone jingled cutting off his reply. "Detective Flack." Jess watched with a familiar sense of disappointment as his posture straightened, his grin dropped while he unconsciously adopted a professional attitude. He asked a few rather standard questions before slowly blinking then asking to be updated.

"There goes your early night." Angel commiserated with a laughing tone.

But he didn't match her tone when he replied after a pause. "They've taken three CSIs hostage. Two are being released with their demands but one will be kept to ensure that their demands are met." He recited in an almost monotone voice. She could see him fight to keep his emotions pushed backwards.

She tried to console him softly. "I'm sure she'll be okay." He didn't react in either relief or surprise. "Lindsay will be just fine." At her name, his fists balled up quickly then relaxed just as quickly.

She grabbed the keys. "I'll drive to the lab." He followed without a word.

They sat in silence the whole drive to the crime lab. His face was like a stone, cold and unemotional. His hands laid flat against his legs. His breath was carefully measured. To an outsider, he appeared completely in control of his emotions. His clenched jaw betrayed his true feelings though. All he could think about was the sound she made when she gasped his name, the taste of the skin on her hip, and the way her hair looked after he had run his hands through it. He would not allow this morning to be the last time he woke up with her. He had just handed her some coffee and breakfast after her alarm went off. He hadn't even told her that he loved her yet. No, he refused to think like that. She would be alright. No matter what happened, she would be alright. Mac's face when Don raced off the elevator stopped him dead. He swallowed hard and walked forward determined to find her.

As Danny and Mac sat patiently getting processed by Stella, they filled Don in on what had happened. Apparently, it was just a regular run of the mill homicide investigation when suddenly three men appeared at the scene in masks with AK-47s. Danny had immediately been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. Mac tried to resist but two of the men pointed their guns at Lindsay. He gave up the fight almost immediately. A blow to the back of his head knocked out Mac. The next thing they remember they were pushed out of a van into a parking lot with a note taped to Mac's vest. NYPD showed up 5 minutes later.

Flack took over from there. "Dispatch got a call from your phone stating your drop location. Lindsay's still missing though." He was glad that he could say her name without the slightest hint of wavering. "So what are their demands?"

Danny told him with a sheepish tone. He felt guilty that he was free and Lindsay wasn't. "They want a Mark Crave moved into Rikers from upstate. By 6:30 this morning."

Flack left immediately to try and move Mark downstate. He managed to confirm the transfer at 4:00 am. Flack continued to stay at the lab, he just couldn't go back to the last place they slept together, smell her perfume, see her clothes and not see her there. He wouldn't go back until he found her. The normally put together Detective Flack looked rumpled. He was falling a little further apart every time a lead fizzled out. Mac stopped telling him new leads in an effort to keep him away from the case. Stella forced him to sit and eat. Every moment without a glimmer of hope fractured his hard-won control a little further and the lack of sleep frayed it further. When it finally cracked so badly that he shouted at Adam for not having information, Danny locked him into Mac's office until he agreed to take a nap for at least two hours. He woke up abruptly from a nightmare about Lindsay's death, breathing deeply. His eyes gained a haunted look.

It was another day before any significant clues were found. Neither Danny nor Mac were allowed to work but Hawkes, Stella and Adam kept them in the loop. At long last, Sheldon pulled off one of the lab miracles that they were so famous for. Suddenly, they had a name and with a name came a motive. Flack woke up from his nap by Danny violently shaking his shoulder. His eyes flew open to meet Danny's wide-open and panicked eyes.

"Don-" He began cautiously.

"What happened? Where's Lindsay?" His control snapped back into place immediately as a hint of getting Lindsay back appeared. His face was devoid of emotion. Danny found the lack of anything on his face a little disconcerting.

"We narrowed the location down." He handed Don the file. "Mac had a boot print on his back that has trace evidence of steel and waterproof paint. Then we found traces of seagull dropping." Danny paused waiting for Don to understand it but he stared blankly. "It's a port. We were held in a shipping container."

Instead of enthusiasm for a new lead, Don looked more defeated. "Do you have any idea how many ports there are in New York and how many containers are in the port?" Danny tried to make it sound better but Don buried his head in his hands. Although Flack could tell Danny was upset, he couldn't find it in himself to try and comfort him right cell-phone rang loudly breaking through Danny's explanation.

"Detective Flack." He sounded more confident than he felt. Danny waited silently with a baited breath.

"Have you transferred him?" The male voice asked him with animosity clear in his tones.

"Yes. He was checked in at 4 this morning." He fought to keep his voice emotionless and unattached.

"Now, the next request is simple. I want the evidence box from his case dropped off by the Balto statue by 11 PM tonight."

"11? That doesn't give us much time." He tried to stall for some more time. It was a testament to his control that he managed to keep an almost brash tone.

"Do we need to send you her finger to properly motivate you?" The man threatened.

"No!" He shouted in a flash of panic then frantically tried to regain his control. "No, I'll try to get the evidence box."

"You do it. Or you won't find your CSI alive." Then the dial tone beeped in his ear.

Danny headed toward the door. "I'll see what Adam can pull off your phone."

Don mumbled quietly. "I can't." He knew himself well enough that if he was not emotionally capable of negotiating with anyone right now. All he could think about was her and the way she breathed. He knew he couldn't function properly right now and if killed her because his pride hadn't allowed him to let someone else take over for him, he wouldn't live with the guilt. His nightmare kept running through his head. Danny stopped walking, waiting in the doorway. "I can't negotiate for this. Her voice keeps running through my head every time I even think about bargaining. I can't be the reason she dies." His voice cracked on the last sentence.

"You love her." It wasn't a question but a statement.

Don answered anyway while he rubbed his hands over his eyes. "Yes and it's messing with my head." He looked up with desperation shining in his eyes. "She has to live to hear me tell her that and for that to happen, someone who is impeccably in control needs to be charge of this."

Danny nodded in sympathy. "Alright. I'll get Mac to handle this." Danny walked out leaving Flack to his thoughts. After a minute of composing himself, he walked out to the station to research Mark Crave, Lindsay and anything he could possibly think of to give them a motive.

"It- She-" Danny licked his lips, flicked his eyes away and tried again. Flack didn't try react or interrupt. "We have the location but" Danny couldn't look at Don's face. The hope Don was trying so hard to push away was evident in his eyes. "Just- Just keep in mind that it might not end well."

After swallowing slowly, Flack stood up smoothly, grabbed the keys and walked out. "I'm driving."

Throughout the drive, Danny kept looking for signs that he was about to break. The only evidence of his nervousness was the white-knuckled grip he had on his steering-wheel. Other than that, Flack buried all the emotions trying to remain on the top of his game. He had to bring Lindsay back. They finally arrived after 30 minutes of tense driving.

"Mac." He greeted tersely. "What's happening?"

Mac seemed more in control than Flack felt but Mac had always been better at hiding his emotions. "The hostage negotiator arrived. We figured out that she was in the cargo bins in this general area. We don't know where she is now though." Flack surveyed the area with a sinking feeling in his stomach. His jaw clenched tightly. "The prep refuses to give her location away without us giving into his demands. We aren't sure where he is yet but he's not here."

Flack stared out at the cargo bay. "Is she alive?"

Mac tried to sound encouraging. " There's no evidence to the contrary. The prep doesn't seem to be very willing to kill her."

"Just kidnap her and keep her hostage for 28 hours." Flack angrily countered. "That's not violent at all." The sarcastic edge to his voice worried Mac. While his control was admirable, 30 hours basically without sleep and a stressful situation on top of it would fray anyone's nerves.

"Look, Flack-" Mac began cautiously.

"Just don't. Please just don't right now." Flack interrupted him with a strangled voice. He choked on the words. "I really can't think about anything right now."

Adam ran up to Flack and Mac with an eager grin. "We found her sweatshirt and a few-" Hesitating, he glanced with a worried expression at Don before continuing with less eagerness. "blood-stained cloths. The dogs followed the scent to a stack of containers before losing it. Sheldon and Stella are searching the stack now."

Mac's radio hissed then Stella's frantic voice crackled out. "We need an ambulance here now." Flack stumbled backward, finally breaking his control.

"She can't-Mac she can't be gone." He choked on the words. "I didn't even tell her that I loved her."

Mac grabbed her shoulders and shook him gently. "Don't give up on her now alright. She can still pull through this. We don't even know how badly she was hurt." Mac tried to encourage him. "Now let's go meet her okay?"

Stella updated them a few minutes later with the news that Lindsay was awake and talking. The blood covering her hadn't actually been hers but instead the dead accomplice found next to her. "Lindsay!" He shouted loudly as he finally spotted her in the back of the ambulance. She ran toward him escaping the restraining arms of the paramedics. Then she was there in front of him, safe and sound and mostly unharmed. They met in the middle, arms tangling, bodies closer than physically possible. He showered her with kisses and whispered 'I love you' over and over again. His hands tangled in her hair keeping them anchored together.

She chuckled as her slightly hysterical breathing slowed down. "I think our 'keep it discreet' agreement might be totally destroyed after today. What with the very public announcements and displays of affection."

The relief made him light-headed and giddy. He truly could not care less at this moment about whether the police force knew that they were dating. "I really couldn't care less about that right now." He pulled her close again, relishing in the feeling that she was still leaning against him. "God, Lindsay, please don't do that to me again." He breathed the words into her hair.

"It wasn't all fun and games for me either." She pressed her face into his chest and he could feel her giggle against his chest. "It seems that all the major milestones in our relationship happen in job-related situations."

He kissed her head. "We should probably try to change that tradition. Plus, I really do not appreciate having to discover that I love you when learning that you are about to die." She laughed out loud and then groaned painfully. He released her reluctantly and turned to the paramedics hovering before them. "Alright, alright. You can have her back." He held her hand through the trip to the hospital, and didn't leave her side until she finally pushed open the door to her apartment.

_TBC_


	11. I Think About Time

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

11/12

* * *

She met him in the lobby already wearing her lab coat over her dress. He kissed her cheek and handed her a nice bouquet.

She laughed at the gesture. "Sorry about dinner."

"Ah, its part of the job." He was in a dress shirt and pants but had an NYPD jacket over it. "Because I am such an amazing guy," She rolled her eyes, which he ignored and continued. "I explained to the restaurant what was happening. They decided to deliver dinner for us."

"Even the mac and cheese?" She nearly squealed.

He looked offended. "Really? That's what I get out of this. Not even a thank you but a squeal for mac and cheese."

She stepped closer and up on her toes, slowly brushing her body against his. Reflexively, he gripped her hips. She pressed her lips against his ear and murmured. "But I will thank you." Her lips quickly grazed his ear. "Just not in a way that's appropriate for work." Then she lowered herself back into her heels, making sure to keep contact with his body the whole time.

"Now that was just not fair." Don complained but grinning ear to ear. "It's been two weeks since we had any alone time without one of us being nearly passed out of exhaustion. And you're going to do _that_." His voice seemed a little strained and his hands had tightened on her hips. She seemed pleased at the reaction she got from him.

"Give me some pasta and I swear I will make it up to you." Lindsay's eyes glinted with anticipation. She glanced back at her full lab, regretfully. "I should go." He brushed her hair away from her face.

"Me, too. You look beautiful by the way." He looked down the hallway to where Mac stood waiting. He kissed her forehead. As he walked away, he called "Leave your dinner break open."

The next three hours passed in a stressful blur. The elevator doors opened and the smell of hot delicious Italian food wafted into her lab. Lindsay stood up with a gleeful sigh. She peeled off her coat and ran to meet to him in the lobby. He grinned contentedly at her glee. She greeted him a hug, surprising him and throwing him a little off balance. Recovering quickly, he flung his arms around her and swung her off the ground.

"Get a room." Stella scolded them good-naturedly as she passed by.

"Yeah, yeah." Flack waved her off with the hand not carrying the food but lowered Lindsay all the same. He weaved their fingers together and slowly steered her toward Stella's office. "She told me we could borrow her office after I explained what had happened."

He pushed the door open slowly. There was a sheet on the ground with two pillows on top of it. Smirking at the obvious shock on her face, he gently persuaded her further inside the room. Finally he let her go and then had a bit of a shock himself.

He gaped at her for a moment. "Damn Linds, wearing that underneath a lab coat should be illegal."

She smiled in gratification at his response. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing. There is no way in hell, I am doing anything in Stella's office." He kissed her forehead gently. "I love you too much to die on our first official date."

She poked his side. "You are a cheeseball." She accused him, smiling like an idiot despite her words.

"But you love me anyway, so what does that tell you about your taste in men?" He retorted as he knelt on the ground and began pulling food out.

As they sat in silence as they ate, mostly because Lindsay inhaled her mac and cheese. It took her a moment to realize that he was staring at her with fond disbelief on his face.

"What?" She asked defensively.

"If I had known that you would make those noises from mac and cheese, I would have bought it ages ago." He wiped a bit of cheese from her lip with his thumb and left it lingering there. His eyes darkened slowly.

Smirking, she knelt on her knees and slowly moved closer to him. His eyes darted to the door back to her but he had already angled his body closer to hers. "It's not just mac and cheese that makes me make those noises."

"Oh yeah." He pulled her into his lap, drawing her legs around his hips. "I bet, I could do the job admirably." Her hands immediately went around his neck.

"Up for the challenge?" He nodded before closing the miniscule distance between their lips. His hands pushed up her dress as her neck fell back. Immediately he took advantage of the skin revealed on her neck. Her hands slowly loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. A loud shout reverberated through the lab drawing their attention back to the present.

"This is probably a really bad idea." She said regretfully, drawing her hands from underneath his shirt. He moved his hands back to her knees.

"Yeah but," His eyes filled in frustration. "It's been weeks since I could touch you. You are actually going to be the death of me."

"When this case breaks, we are going to stay inside for at least 2 days." She promised him. He smirked in agreement and kissed her once more lightly.

He gently nudged her off his lap and then stood, pulling her up with him. "We should probably get back to work."

She sighed but agreed. Together, they quickly cleaned the room up. He folded the sheet and placed it neatly on Stella's desk. He looked up at her chuckle.

He walked back over to her with narrowed eyes. "Something you find funny here, Monroe?"

"The NYPD detective who can perfectly fold a sheet up." She shook her head in amusement. "You always manage to surprise me."

His smirk turned into a more serious and personal smile. "Ya know, if you move in. I can impress you with my folding skills all the time." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at the end to try and get rid of the sudden nervousness.

"I can't believe you made that into a sexual joke." But she sounded more pleased at his moving in comment.

"Montanta, your results are back in!" Danny shouted down the hall.

"Walk you back?" He joked in mock seriousness. "Things can get pretty dangerous at night."

As they walked, she linked their arms together. "I think it might actually fit us that our first real date was in the lab. I mean think about it we shared all of our important moments with the job. First time we met, first time we got to know each other, first time we kissed, first time we said I love you. And now our first formal date is taking place at the office." She ticked off the milestones on her fingers.

"When you say it like that, it sounds sweet. But otherwise it sounds we like we really need lives away from the office."

She punched his arms softly and admonished him slightly. He grabbed her hand and held on to it. "We are sweet, no matter what." They reached the door of the lab.

His voice lowered to a more intimate level. "I have to say I agree." He kissed her hand and walked away. "See you later."

_TBC_

Just a warning, my next chapter might be a little later than usually. I have a ton of school work left to do but I will update in the end. _  
_


	12. I Will Follow You With My Whole Life

Wow, I can't believe this is done. I loved writing it and receiving all the alerts/favs/reviews. Sorry, this chapter really fought me but I have exams in 2 days and don't really have anymore time to spend on it. At some point, I might come back to this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

12/12

* * *

It started slowly. Lindsay hadn't wanted to rush things, afraid things would end like they had with Danny. So once he realized he wanted to live with Lindsay (about a month after their first kiss), Don devised a plan to gradually move her into his apartment.

He simply had to wait for an opportunity. One night, she was eating spaghetti when she dripped red sauce all down her white shirt. The first phase of his plan was in effect. Graciously he offered to wash her stuff here and lend her a shirt to go home in. He just forgot to give them back afterward. It happened fairly often after they started spending most of their time at his apartment since it was closer to work. Lindsay realized fairly quickly that having clean clothes at his apartment was more convenient than constantly borrowing his clothes.

Next, he needed her to start leaving a weekend bag at his place. After that, she started leaving her weekend bag at his apartment. It was a pretty easy transition in all honesty. After a brutal case for them both, neither one really wanted to be left alone. Everything just felt better together. Despite seeing the worst in humanity, together they could make their job feel just that little bit less depressing. She went home for all of 15 minutes to pack some weekend clothes. On Monday, it was just easier to leave the bag at his apartment in case she slept in or something. His shower was filled with her shower products. Slowly that weekend bag became a week bag. Next step was to empty out three drawers and a fourth of his closet to give to her. Her favorite clothes were in his closet within a week. She helped him pick out a new pair of sheets after accidently ripping his. It had taken 4 months but slowly she was practically living in his apartment. Now, all that was left was to actually ask her.

#####

His shirt stuck to his body in the muggy heat as he jogged toward the pizzeria. Don looked at his watch and cursed. On top of a ton of no lead murders, he was now 30 minutes late to his lunch date with Lindsay. He really wanted her to be in a good mood before asking her. He fiddled with the ring in his pocket unconsciously. She wasn't the type to get mad over nothing but thirty minutes without a call was cutting it close to annoyance. He had meant to call truly. But when he walked in, she was standing next to the counter and happily chatting with the cook as he sprinkled toppings onto some pizza. As usual, the guy looked charmed. She smiled brilliantly as he walked over. His breath caught a little at her obvious happiness. Seriously, he was a workaholic with neither a lot of money nor charm. She was brilliant, gorgeous, and enchanting. Literally any man would want to date her. He would never understand why she chose him. One day, he really would thank Danny for being such a jackass.

"The pizza should be ready in a minute." She told him before kissing him hello. The cook nodded at him then slid a piping hot pizza on the counter between them. Lindsay grabbed it and transferred it to the booth behind them. Flack didn't miss his envious glance back toward Lindsay though.

"Wow, nice service here." Don laughed as he grabbed a slice.

"Well, Bill here was mugged once but the cops got all his stuff back and locked up the guy. Now he likes to give the police a break." Lindsay explained to him quietly. "Also he recognizes the regulars so he gave me some free coke."

"Well, I appreciate any break I can get today." He muttered slightly bitterly and looked down at the pizza.

Lindsay winced sympathetically. "Rough day? Should I come in and help?" She offered quietly.

"No, it wouldn't even help." Don put down his slice. "The bodies were pulled from the water. There's almost no evidence left, no clothing either. Just no clue to their identity." He sighed heavily. "Just another name on a long list of the unknown." Lindsay hadn't seen him this dejected since Aidan died. She couldn't help him when he was like this except be there to distract him with pleasanter things.

She placed her hand over his folded hands, drawing his eyes to hers. "Well, I know this must be hard for you but, you can't do much more without any evidence. This is not your fault." He managed to grin tightly at her then looked away.

Changing the subject, he asked. "So how's your day going? Your day off must be nice." He bit into the pizza as she answered.

"Yea. It's been pretty nice. After sleeping in, I went grocery shopping. I put some more milk in your fridge by the way. Went shopping for some bathing suits for our weekend trip next month." Don raised his eyebrows. "No peeking though. I'll be keeping them at my apartment."

He cleared his throat loudly. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." She raised her eyebrows playfully.

"Well, maybe if you're really really good I'll give you a small peek." She narrowed her eyes teasingly. "But you'll have to earn it."

He choked a little on his coke before correcting her. "No, about your apartment."

"Really?" She smiled suspiciously. To be honest, she had suspected this for a while. He always got very nervous before asking her about weekend bags etc. His face looked similar to now.

He pulled out a key ring with a new gold key hanging off it. "So want to move in? It's closer than your apartment to work. Plus you spend half your time there anyway." She grinned widely with her eyes sparkling. "So what do you say?"

She grabbed the key chain eagerly. "Did you really need to ask? Of course I want to move in." She rolled her eyes. "I pretty much live there anyway."

"Really?" He still seemed unsure. "You want to move in?" She laughed bubbly and ebullient.

"Of course I do." She kissed him deeply over the table. Her hand curled over his while she showed him just how much to move in. When she pulled back slightly, she murmured quietly. "I would love to wake up with you every day. If you hadn't asked soon, I would've have just never left anyway."

_End_

_If anyone has any prompts or requests for more Flack/Monroe stories, I'd love to write them or hear about them._

_Thanks for reading!  
_

He kissed her again. "I wouldn't have asked you to."


End file.
